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Minimal handling and bronchopulmonary dysplasia in extremely low-birth-weight infants
G Latini1, C De Felice, G Presta
1Division of Pediatrics, Perrino Hospital, Azienda Ospedaliera A. Di Summa, 72100, Brindisi, Italy. gilatini@tin.it
Unlabelled:
Over the last 16 years a minitouch regime, i.e., nasal continuous positive airway pressure (n-CPAP) and/or nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (n-IPPV), together with a minimal intubation policy has been routinely used for the treatment of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in preterm infants. Only 1.39 (1 out of 72) of the extremely low-birth-weight babies admitted to our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and surviving for at least 36 weeks' postconceptional age developed bronchopulmonary dysplasia at 36 weeks (BPD 36-wk). The BPD-36 wk incidence observed in our population is significantly lower than expected (30%) from the literature (p=0.000002).
Conclusion:
Our experience supports the effectiveness of the minitouch regime as a way to ventilate premature babies, reducing BPD risk.